Hi everyone, this is my first post after using this site to cure a misfire/backfire/oil leak problem. The cause was a bad wire in the Hall effect sensor and a blocked flame trap. Without the knowledge gained from this site, it would have been a very expensive trip to the local Volvo dealer. In fact the AA chap who towed me home thought the engine had slung a piston at the very least. When I checked it out the next day after brickboarding for a few hours, I fixed the lot with a dab of solder and a £1.00 part from Volvo. One good side effect was better fuel consumption, another was the vacuum on the brakes had improved to the point of being a touch with the foot with no sinking of the brake pedal ( had to relearn braking so I would actually stop where I should and not 50 yards before the stop line)
This is my 3rd Volvo. First was a 87' 240 GL Estate 2.3 litre (wife rolled it with 5 people aboard - no damage to occupants !!!) second is a '90 740 SE Saloon 2 litre I still have, third is a '86 740 GLT 7 seater 2.3 litre estate with 200,000 on the clock which I use as my everyday runabout. (Wife has started using a Bmw 316 I got for £50 cause she likes it, silly girl !!!)
Thanks for the help so far, and I hope to contribute something myself where I can. I used to build bikes then got into cars, and ended up wth Volvos. I like to get my hands dirty fixing the brutes where necessary, makes a pleasant change from my normal day to day of babysitting mainframes and sun boxes.
I've come to consider that 240s and 740s were designed by engineers not accountants unlike so many other cars.
All the best, Stuart.